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New vaccine could help producers protect against tick disease
A researcher at the University of Missouri has developed a new vaccine to protect cattle from bovine anaplasmosis, a common tick disease.
Roman Ganta with the College of Veterinary Medicine says it may take a few years for the vaccine to be commercialized, but he is working to get the backing from an animal health company.
“We’ll do it as fast as we can, but I’m at a bottleneck to get this work done. It’s one of the negotiations I have with the industry professionals I’m working with.”
Bovine anaplasmosis is a tick-borne bacterial disease mostly effects cattle older than 2 years with symptoms including jaundice, abortion, weight loss, a decline in meat and milk production and possible death. Ganta says the disease has caused economic losses in the livestock industry.
“It’s in every part of the world with billions of dollars at stake in economical impact, people, emotional and all different kinds.”
He tells Brownfield the vaccine is effective for at least one month, but more testing is needed.
“We have to apply this in the field to see how good it’s going to be and independently, it has to be evaluated by the animal industry so they feel comfortable.”
Ganta says the idea for the vaccine came from working with the proteins of ehrlichia, a bacteria that causes disease spread from the Lone Star tick.
“We identified the removal of a certain protein makes the bacteria less vigilant and when we challenge the animals, the infection followed the vaccination, remain healthy. We wondered if we could do the same thing for bovine anaplasmosis. Yes, we can.”
Ganta says the vaccine will need to receive USDA approved before it can be commercialized. He says if the testing and approval process goes well, he’s optimistic it will be available to cattle producers by 2030.
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